The present invention is directed to a car seat having a buckle, and more particularly, to a car seat having a buckle which provides visual feedback to confirm when the buckle is properly latched.
Car seats are designed to be coupled to the seat of an automotive vehicle and are shaped to securely receive a child or infant therein. A car seat typically includes a seat shell or seat body having a seat back and a seat pan. A pair of harnesses extend from the seat back, over the shoulders of the occupant, and are releasably coupled to a buckle connected to the seat pan to securely retain the occupant in the car seat.
The harnesses of a car seat are typically latched in place by a buckle. When the harnesses are received therein, the buckle should be securely latched to ensure the occupant is secured in the car seat. Therefore, it is important to confirm that the buckle is securely latched in place.
The present invention is a car seat having a buckle that provides visual feedback to confirm when the buckle is securely latched. In a one embodiment, the invention is a car seat including a seat body having a seat back and a seat pan for receiving an occupant thereon, and at least one shoulder harness coupled to the seat body and being located to fit over the torso of an occupant to retain the occupant on the seat body. The car seat further includes a buckle for releasably coupling the shoulder harness to the seat body, the buckle including a bracket coupled to the shoulder harness and a base coupled to the seat body. The bracket includes a gripping portion and a tongue and is releasably couplable to the base. The buckle is in a latched condition when the bracket is coupled to the base and is in an unlatched condition when the bracket is not coupled to the base. One of the gripping portion or the base includes a notification portion that has a visual property different from any adjacent areas of the one of the gripping portion or the base. The notification portion is visible when the buckle is in the unlatched condition and the visual property of the notification portion is generally obscured by the other of the gripping portion or the base when the buckle is in the latched condition.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.